Fun, fast-paced action. Inexpensive. New levels. The action isn't the same old thing on every level; game play actually changes markedly from one level to the next.

Cons

No bongos! The game is pretty easy to beat and doesn't seem worth the effort to try to max out the points.

Bottom Line

Even without its trademark bongo controller, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is still fun, and at this price it's a great deal.

The original Donkey Kong Jungle Beat came out in 2004 for the Nintendo Game Cube, and its "bongo controllers" quickly became a fixture of dorm rooms and living rooms around the world. In order to move Donkey Kong around in the game, you played a set of bongos and clapped your hands in various ways. This was pretty innovative, but after a while you realized that there was only so much you could do with a controller like thisit limited game play. The new version has solved this problem by adopting the Wii controls. And at $29.99 (list) it's also a great bargain, considering that many Wii games retail for $49.99 list.

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Nintendo has revisited the game and added it to its "New Play Control" series, in which the company takes older games and ports them over to the Wii console. The series started with GameCube favorite Pikman and has now moved on to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Nintendo did just a fair job of adapting Pikman to the Wii, but there really isn't much fine control needed in that game, anyway. With Jungle Beat, Nintendo truly incorporated the Wii controls and made the game feel almost new. Okay, maybe it's not entirely like getting a new game. In fact, it's a port of the 2004-vintage game, and much of it is more or less identical to the original title. But Nintendo has added new twists to each of the levels and several new enemies.

In the game you play as Donkey Kong (DK), the king of the jungle, but parts of your kingdom have been usurped by several other "kings of the jungle," and you have to fight to regain control of your realm. To do this you will have to run, jump, and bounce your way though several levels, collecting bananas on the way, as you would coins in Mario Bros. The Wii's nunchuck controls have replaced the bongos and are put to good use. Where in the old game you moved DK around by clapping your hands or banging your drum in the right cadence, things are a bit different with the Wiimote. To change Kong's direction you use the thumb stick, and to jump over and around objects you use the Wii remote. The Wiimote is also used for Kong's thunderous hand clap; with just a flick Kong dispatches enemies with violent sound waves, like the Incredible Hulk. At various times during the game, you will need to use both sides of the nunchuk controls in a drumming or punching motion, as well.

The best part of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is definitely the beautifully detailed worlds. The graphics are lush, adding a 3D feel to a two-dimensional game. I also found the Boss battlesthe big battles you have to win at the end of each level in order to move up to the next level of playpretty rewarding. Often in games like this, the Boss battles can get pretty repetitive. You play through the level, beat all the minions, and then pound on the boss. Jungle Beat mixes it up so you have to fight each Boss battle differently.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii) is fun but not particularly difficult. I found that with a minimum of effort I easily progressed through the game and was left thinking, "Surely there's more?" But there wasn't. That said, Nintendo isn't billing it as some sort of complex strategy game. It's Donkey Kong; it's not supposed to be all that difficult. If you've got young children, buy it for them. Once they master the game's simple Wiimote controls, they'll love the feeling of controlling their own cartoon. And they won't know that a lot of the game is a rehash of the previous Donkey Kong outing. And at $29.99, it's a decent buy even for those of us who played the game the first time around, too.

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About the Author

Dan Evans is the DIY Analyst for PCMag.com. He has been at the magazine/website for over 10 years and during that tenure has worked on every product team here. When he is not building a PC from scratch he is reviewing laptops, desktops, and videogames. Before coming to PCMag.com he earned a BA in US History at Columbia University and was a membe... See Full Bio

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii)

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii)

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